Ironing out the fine points

[bucknbroncho]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

Hello.

This is the background history for my question ... This is a Capital One account. Account is last listed on credit report as date of last payment 2/01.

We were contacted by attorney's for Cap One around 2002 or 2003 and I asked for validation. I asked several times and sent each one with registered return requested. They did reply, but never validated the requests. Even though we asked for validation they filed a request for judgement with the courts, which we attened twice and they did not. They knew we were asking for validation and they did not have it. The Judge though, dismissed the case adding without predjudice, which totally ticked us off at the time. The judge was not very interested in any arguments either. So, we were fairly certain this was all but over. Then on June 27 of 2006 we received another attorney letter, same ones, looking to collect. Once again I fired off the validation letter. Nothing in retun, until now. This week we received a letter stating they had a copy now of an application for credit from the OC. What this is is a copy of a 30 second acceptance certificate. It says ..."yes, I want a preapproved visa card" Then the offer expires 12/31/2000. Then it has a tell us about yourself area with ss, name address and phone, then signature. It also states that they have the right to check employment and credit history ... Then attached are two statements from Cap One. One from Dec. Jan 2001-2002 and the next from Jan Feb 2002. Both show no payments made for either statement. As I said, the credit report states that the last payment was made Feb, 2001. This I must assume is what Capital One has reported and take as the start of the SOL March 2001 Date. That being the case if I am correct, As of March 3rd, the SOL is in play? But, now I am wondering if the dismissed case without predjudice is of any importance? My take here is that it was DISMISSED and that the without predjudice means only that they would be able to initiate a new filing if they had the proper information at hand, but what I am hoping is that they are now barred by the so0l from doing just that. I am not convinced this validation they have now sent is pertinant. It bears no identification from an account id, only that a card may have been applied for, not that it was issued, or that it was actually issued for that account.

Anyway, please offer your opinions on this situation. Where anm I standing now? I am feeling like they are making a last ditch effort not to lose this, but my gut tells me they may have waited too long? I know they can attempt to collect after the SOL is up, but that is not what troubles me.

Any help ... Thank you much!What is the name of your state?

[bucknbroncho]

Hi.

Seems no one had any input on my situation. So, What I have done is researched what I have as best I could and come up with this ... I believe the first trek to court was dismissed with no predjudice and that means that a new case could be brought up, but it would be a totally new case, so that will not come into play. Any law suit that they would institute would be totally new. Although I still believe that the last court appearance should have been filed with predjudice because they didn't even bother to show and that seems frivilous and lacking respect for the court and us. Be that as it may ...

The body of my letter is as follows. I have included a part about it being disputed because I feel if I do not it will be construed as admission of owing this debt.

"Dear Sir;
This letter is in response to your letter dated March 21, 2005, concerning the collection of the above referenced account .
Thank you for the application and statements. I have reviewed them and found no identification numbers or account numbers on the alleged application that relate to the number of the account of which you are trying to collect.
I do not believe I owe what you say I owe therefore I dispute this debt. I am well aware of my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and my state laws so I hope to save both of us a great deal of time by letting you know that not only do I dispute the validity of this debt, I have also checked with my State Attorney General and verified that the Statute of Limitations for enforcing this type of debt through the courts in Wisconsin has expired. Therefore, should you decide to pursue this matter in court I intend to inform the court of my dispute of this debt and that the "statute of limitations" has expired.
If you will examine the date of last payment on this account, you will find that Capital One has noted it as February 2001. They have reported it to the Credit Bureaus as such. Since this account has been disputed with the CRA’s several times and verified by Capital One each time, I must assume that they would not knowingly provide false information to the CRA’s as that would be illegal. I have verified this with three CRA’s. It is identical on each report. I am sure you well know, the SOL on this account has expired. I have an Absolute Defense, and will file the necessary documents should you decide to pursue court action.
This letter is your formal notification that I consider this matter closed and demand that you, or anyone affiliated with your company, stop contacting me regarding this or any other matter except to advise me that your debt collection efforts are being terminated.
Very Sincerely, ... "

Any comments?

I hope that this may help someone else out there. Gee, I hope it helps me!

Good Luck All!

[boswd]

Sounds goods. I would include the copy of your credit report to show the last activity. As far as the application for the new credit card is concerned as long as you didn't go ahead and sign up for it and they didn't issue one you should be golden.
But if they do proceed to take you court make sure you answer the claim and plan on attending whether they decide to drop it or not just to be sure, don't want a judgment by default.
Sounds like you have all records and everything and you should be fine. But legal representation is always the best .
Good luck

[Some Random Guy]

Dismissed without prejudice means its as if th eearlier case never happened. You cannot determine their evidence or motives from these previous cases.

The SOL is a defense which YOU have to bring up on court and YOU have to convince the judge of the date of last activity.

The lack of account numbers on the application is a ludicrous argument. When have you ever been issued an account number on the application for any account? What they have is evidence you applied for credit. When the judge asks for your evidence that you did not apply for the credit, what will you tell him?

Your letter to them is fine - they will likely treat it as a standard C&D letter and will either give up (and maybe resellt the debt to another CA) or sue you.

[bucknbroncho]

Hi.

Thanks for the responses.

On the Application, it really is not an application. What it seems to be is two seperate pieces of information spliced together and copied on one page. One is from an internet page and the other is from some type of form asking to tell about yourself. My point is this, I could have applied for 6 of these cards from any given company, been denied or accepted, but how does this bit of paper connect me to this particular account? Which, is a moot point if the SOL is past, right?

My letter in essence is just to let them know that I still dispute the validity of the claim and that the SOL is up and I know it, and can prove it using their reports.

I will add a copy of the CR. Thank you that is a good suggestion.

My hope is that they will note that the SOL is up and that I fully intend to follow through. This should be bolstered by the fact that we did appear twice for previous court dates and rest assured we will appear again if necessary. We will convince the judge, if it comes to that, using their own reporting to the CRA's.

I welcome anymore suggestions or thoughts on this matter.

Thank you all again!

[boswd]

Even if they say they will drop it, still plan on showing up, don't go by their word, just in case they try to pull a fast one on you and hope for a judgment by default. No matter what happens, that date for court consider it penciled in on you calender and go no matter what.
Good luck

[bucknbroncho]

Hi.

Thanks, absolutely, will do, but so far no court action has been started. With a bit of luck maybe they will just drop the whole thing! Cross your fingers for me!

Thanks again!

[boswd]

will do oh and one more thing, check your credit report to make sure all three have your current address, so they can't send anything including judgment papers to the infamous "last known address" .